Artist does church works (From Stroud News and Journal)

Artist does church works

A GIANT painting by Stroud artist Marianne Hellwig John is to take pride of place in a Surrey church.

The 12ft square abstract work incorporating a cross from a design by Mrs Hellwig John's sculptor husband David John took three months to complete.

"I've worked hard," said the Bisley Old Road artist. "When you enjoy doing something it's tiring but the adrenaline flows.

"The theme is Growth out of a series of designs I call the Creation series. "I do love painting large. The challenge is to keep the original vitality in a design so greatly enlarged."

The acrylic painting is made up of nine plywood panels but is not the largest work Mrs Hellwig John has ever done. Her 40ft by eight-foot work for a Long Eaton church scooped that honour. This one will decorate Epsom's St Barnabas Church.

"It's for the inside of a big church that was built in the middle of the 19th century where they have been doing a great refurbishment," she said. "I prepared the panels very carefully before applying the acrylic."

Mrs Hellwig John was commissioned to do the work for the restoration of the Anglican church after its vicar visited a new Catholic church nearby on which David John was working with architects.